Birding and other distractions

Fairly mild and mostly sunny at Dungeness we started at Southview Cottage where a Yellow-browed Warbler had been reported in the garden. The bird was seen a couple of times though proved fairly elusive and didn't call. A Brambling was heard whilst waiting there. From the Hanson Hide there were plenty of waterfowl to be seen, Gadwall being most notable. A couple of female-type Goldeneye were quite close to the hide.  A Clouded Yellow was the only butterfly seen at Dungeness, what a year for the species it's been. Otherwise Dungeness seemed fairly quiet so we headed to Rye Harbour to visit the nature reserve there. It has been many years since I last came here, and in the meantime the impressive new visitor centre has been built. The Gooders Hide is a short walk away, named after one of my birding heroes, John Gooders. He is justifiably famous for writing 'Where to Watch Birds' in 1967, a book that proved a real game changer for me and no doubt thousands of others. The fi...

Another fine sunny day. The first call was to the Observatory, mainly checking out the moat and nearby area.  It was generally quiet for birds with a Wheatear and several Stonechat being seen. In the Observatory garden we were shown several stick-insects, quite large specimens up to 10 cm in length. They are Mediterranean Stick Insects, a non-native species but with a few isolated colonies as in this case. Both green and brown forms were present. A seawatch by the fishing boats yielded a fair nu mber of Sandwich Terns feeding close inshore. Several Common Scoter were seen, albeit fairly distant, but there was little else of note. At the RSPB reserve the Pectoral Sandpiper that has been present for nearly a week was seen from Dennis's hide in the company of a Ruff. Near Boulderwall Farm at least 10 Cattle Egrets were feeding amongst sheep on the marsh, giving close views. The final visit was to Jury's Gap where the adult American Golden Plover was eventually found amongst the fl...

Spells of sunshine this afternoon though quite windy. At this late date I wasn't very hopeful of finding any reptiles, however managed to see two Adders, a male and a female lying together in TF. I thought the female was especially attractive. No sign of any Slow-worms though. Butterfly activity was generally quiet, the commonest species being Clouded Yellow! Three individuals were present, one of which I just about managed to capture in flight.There was also two Small Copper. Male and female Adder Clouded Yellow 

There have been regular reports of Queen of Spain Fritillary along the coastal path at East Tilbury, up to 20 individuals in the last 1-2 weeks. I had not seen the species since the population at Walmer in September 2022, so went to Essex this morning. I parked at Colne then walked about a mile to the seawall passing an abandoned cereal field on the way, very reminiscent of the habitat of the butterflies at Walmer four years ago. On reaching the seawall we walked south along the coastal path seeing good numbers of Clouded Yellow and very numerous Common Blue. However, no QoS so we turned back and instead walked north, finding the first fritillary within half an hour. Then over a distance of about a quarter of a mile there were four more, all on the path occasionally lifting their wings to display the distinctive underwing, and often flying short distances. They were not fresh specimens, with some damage to the wings or somewhat worn colouration being noted. The tally of Clouded Yellows...

A Grey Phalarope had been reported on a small pool near Holborough Marshes, so having not seen one for a few years I couldn't resist a visit there. The bird was viewed from the raised bank of the river, and was about 100 metres away. It was a first winter individual with mostly grey upperparts though with dark juvenile plumage on the nape. The Collins Guide mentions a light apricot/buff wash on the neck and breast, and this was just about discernable though the light was poor throughout the visit. Grey Phalarope 

When I arrived at Dungeness this morning it was raining hard so my plan to start with a seawatch wasn't going to happen. Instead I went to the RSPB reserve making use of the hides/lookout there. The terns that had been present on recent visits were now absent, and waders were limited to Dunlin and Ringed Plover. F ortunately, the rain stopped whilst there. I then drove round to park near the old lighthouse and was surprised to see a couple of what seemed semi-tame foxes close to the cars. Someone put down a plate of food for them and the foxes were joined by two more individuals. They all seemed to be young animals, probably born this year and very approachable, no doubt accustomed to being fed in view of their behaviour! On the Point I was the only person at the seawatch hide, though I think others were viewing from the fishing boats. There was a big movement of terns flying west after the rain, numbers difficult to estimate though certainly many hundreds. They were accompanied by...